Frustration
by the-unwanted-daughter
Summary: Professor Crane muses over his intern while out for a jog. Oneshot...maybe.
1. Chapter 1

_**please review!**_

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My labored breathing is slowly becoming more tolerable as I slumped heavily in an alley way behind what I can assume is some sort of night club. "Psychologists are meant for mental stimulus, not physical exercise." I shake my head and rest it against the cool brick wall behind me. The last experiment proved to be a waste of time. The subject quickly passed out after the first dose, not to mention that the damned little bubble headed blonde intern almost walked in, ruining my session and my controlled variable of maintaining a healthy, stable environment to test in. But I do have to give her credit; the girl isn't as idiotic as I originally perceived. I pinched the bridge of my nose; this last call was too close for comfort. She was becoming too distracting for my own good. Things like that get you caught.

_"Now Mr…Rhodes is it? How does it feel to be the weak one for a change? Who would have guessed that a man of your size would be frightened by something as infantile as bees" I glowered down at the massive heap of a man, the sweat forming at his hairline as he tried to dodge the imaginary bees that were delving into his psychosis was entertaining, but there has to be something deeper here... something I just haven't figured out yet. I leaned forward and pressed my fingers into his neck, his pulse was going haywire, but nothing that would harm him too much in the long run. Glancing into his eyes, I could see the fear triple as he caught sight of my mask. Tears leaked out of his bloodshot eyes and down his face as he began hyperventilating. This was it! The moment where he realizes that I am the God of this universe._

_"Professor Crane?" a small voice interrupts my moment of ecstasy._

_I quickly pull off my mask and shove it into the small briefcase that is lying at my feet and slam my long hand over the mouth of my squirming victim "What is it Harleen?" I all but bellow through the door. _

_"I was wondering if you had a moment to discuss something rather important." _

_I silently groaned and removed my hand from the now incapacitated test subject. This is getting ridiculous. I never have a moment of peace! I straighten my hair and move over to the door, opening it just enough that she is satisfied with seeing me, but not enough so that she can look at the scene that was just unfolding in the room behind me. I glare down at her, my lanky build towering over her. "What could I be of assistance of Harleen that your PH.D in psychiatry couldn't figure out?" I sneered at her. It was common knowledge that Harleen had obviously not achieved her grades by studying alone. Her pretty, childlike face and innocent blue eyes were a sharp contrast to the wicked curves and seductive air that lie beneath every boring pencil skirt that she wore._

_Now, looking into those blue orbs I could see the anger and suspicion growing. If there was one thing I knew about my annoying little intern, it was that she hated to be talked down to. She straightened her back and glared back into my own icy stare. He jaw clenched tight " I thought you might be interested to know that Patient number 34568 is completely catatonic, uttering only the word 'Scarecrow' over and over again. Do you have any input Professor? I mean, you were the last one to speak with him before this." her blue orbs searched my own accusingly. _

_"Why don't you actually use that mass in your head for more that pop trivia Harleen and YOU tell ME." I glared at her, daring her to say anything more_

_A small smirk appeared on her ruby lips and she gave an infuriating shrug. "No problem professor, I'll make sure that you're the first to know what I find out." And with that she turned on her heal and sauntered through the long stretching hallways of Arkham Asylum, leaving me to second guess myself to the point of having to release my frustration through some sort of physical exercise. This girl is going to drive me crazy. _

I reached up and ran a hand through my sweat drenched locks and laughed, even physical exercise couldn't erase her from my mind. Who was this girl to occupy my thoughts? There was nothing particularly outstanding about her. Hell, I didn't even give her a second thought after meeting her, but over time I couldn't help but feel some sort of magnetism toward the little twit, and sometimes I couldn't help but notice the little things about her. The way her bottle blonde hair would catch the sunlight coming in through the window, the way she would bite the end of her pen when she was focusing intently on something or someone, or the annoying tightening in my chest whenever I would catch one of the orderlies eyes permanently attracted to her rear in the hallways was especially annoying.

The blaring music and bright lights brought me back to reality. I glanced over at the long line forming down the road, attracting all sorts of sex crazed Neanderthals and the ever so innocent succubi that congregate together in a futile attempt to rid themselves of this horrific nightmare that is life. I grimace; I was never one for night clubs. Even in my college days I couldn't be more content to sit in my dorm and read, or study. The mere thought of being in a crowd of gyrating coed's is enough to make even the master of fear shudder.

"Professor Crane, is that you?" a familiar, small voice echoed through the dank alley way. I glanced over to see the annoyingly confusing blonde intern of mine dressed in a tight fitting mini dress that hugged her curves in a way that would make any man fall on his knees, her blue eyes squinting in the darkness, trying to make out the rest of my features while using her hand against the cool brick to guide her down the alley.

"Yes child, its me." I answered with a huff. Of course it would be my luck that the one person who is torturing my thoughts day and night would show up in front of me the moment I try to run from her.

She stumbled blindly through the alley, her fingertips met the hem of my sleeve on my t-shirt, stopping herself before getting any closer. She cocked her head to the side and I could see a small smile play on her lips "I didn't know you like to go clubbing, I would have invited you to come along."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, annoyed. "Don't be ridiculous Harleen; do I look like the clubbing type?"

She smiled "you've got a point professor, you don't really seem like the clubbing type, but I'd bet you have some wild dance moves." She mused while squinting up at me, her breath lightly tinged with alcohol.

"Harleen, why are you out here and not inside bumping and grinding like all of the others?" I huffed, more than slightly annoyed. I went on a jog to get her off my mind, but now I'm slowly starting to realize that it's going to be damn near impossible, especially with the dress she's wearing right now. I couldn't help but realize that red suited her.

She giggled "I needed to get out of there, I can only take so much before I need a break." She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, her long blonde locks cascading down her back like a waterfall of silk. "besides I like the present company" she smirked up at me, a playful gleam in her eye and let her fingers find their way to my chest.

"You're drunk Harleen." I breathed.

She turned toward me and gave me a mischievous little smile and leaned in closer to me, pushing herself against my chest. "ya know, I've been thinking about that patient from earlier. He seemed a little freaked after you sent him back to his cell…wonder why." Her fingers found their way to the back of my hair, messing with the hairs at the nape of my neck.

I gulped. I tried to think clearly, trying to ignore the sensations of her fingers in my hair and focus on getting out of there before she asked too many questions. But the lump in my throat prevented me from talking, and the lump in my pants prevented me from leaving. "Harleen…" I warned "stop this right now… you're going to do, or say, something you regret." I gave her a stern look and grabbed her wrist from behind my neck and pushed her up against the brick wall behind her. She was getting too close to figuring out just what happened behind my office door.

"Aww…what's the matter professor? Does this…" she snaked her free hand down to the fly of my pants "frighten you?"

Our eyes met and that's when I realized two things. One, Harleen Quinzel was a fantastic actress. She wasn't drunk; she knew exactly what she was doing and exactly what she was saying. She knew exactly who I was and what I did to people. Two, she loved it. And for a moment, everything stood still, it was as if time itself had stopped moving, only to start again when the ghost of the word 'Scarecrow' drifted off her lips while her dainty fingers slid down the front of my pants.


	2. Chapter 2

**this is an add-on to the oneshot that I did. I'm thinking about doing a series of them. Feedback please! ~ the unwanted daughter.**

**"**Harleen, he's looking at you again. You must have really showed him a good time yesterday." My annoyingly perceptive nurse aid whispered in my ear. I glanced across the break room and was met by the cool blue eyes of Professor Crane. To say he was admiring me wouldn't have been the right word. He was more of ...examining me. Trying to figure out exactly what I was up to...and honestly I couldn't blame him. I gave him a small smirk in return. The gleam in his eyes turned from calculating to something more carnal, more animalistic. Lust.

I shook my head and glanced into Mary's brown eyes. "Mary, I told you there is nothing going on between me and Professor Crane!" I hissed at her. That lie didn't even sound convincing to my own ears, but it's better for her to speculate about that than what else was going on behind closed doors. There was most definitely something going on between us, but it was none of her damn business.

She rolled her eyes at me, totally not phased by my attempt to disagree with her. "Whatever Harleen, keep telling yourself that." She flipped her shiny mahogany locks behind her shoulders and left me with my own thoughts in the break room. I rolled my eyes 'nurses' they're almost worse than secretaries when it comes to gossip, and I was counting on that.

The more people who thought that Professor Crane and I were fooling around in his office, the better. It would cause for less distraction in his experiments, and give me a chance to actually weasel my way into the big leagues. Yeah it was dangerous, getting involved with someone who could quite possibly end up here, but on the other side of the bars...but I'd be an even bigger liar if I said it was all for status. There was something wonderful about seeing him working with his patients. Something that made him morph from handsome, nerdy, bad-tempered Psych Professor to sexy, frightening Master of Fear. Maybe it was the jittery anticipation he'd get while I was wheeling the patient in for their 'session', the insane gleam in his crystal eyes when they'd cry out for mercy, and finally the way he'd look at me after the experiment was finished. The look of a hungry man about to devour his first meal in weeks. I didn't love him, I knew that for sure...but maybe one day I could.

I was distantly aware of a pair of long slender fingers resting on my hips. "Come back to me Harleen." He whispered in my ear. I shivered and my skin turned into goose flesh as I came out of my thoughts. I felt a low rumble of a laugh vibrate through his chest.

Turning around I looked up at him. He was taller than me by far, and a tad on the gangly side but his eyes were swirling with intellect and danger. I smiled up at him and brought by lips to his collarbone. " I never left" I murmured against him.

His hands slowly slid down to cup my rear. "what did the twit want to know" he said while hoisting me up onto the small counter.

"Just what everyone else wants to know. What exactly you and I do together in our spare time." I breathed as his kisses assaulted my neckline. My nimble fingers began unbuttoning his shirt, revealinghis smooth chest. "Did you lock the door?"

" did you tell her?" He mumbled before assaulting me with wet hot kisses.

"I said-" I let out a little squeal of surprise as he gently bit into my shoulder. I heard his rumble of laughter again as I tried to compose myself again. " I said that nothing was going on between us."

He looked into my eyes while pulling my skirt off "Did she buy it?" He cocked one eyebrow up.

I pulled my top off and slid my fingers down to his belt loops "Not in the slightest." I grinned.

A small grin broke out on his face "good." In one swift motion I was picked up and placed on the floor underneath him.

"Don't worry I'll keep our dirty little secret from them." Until it conveniences me. I giggled and removed his trousers. Oh my dear Scarecrow, if only you had a brain**.**


	3. Chapter 3

Our labored breathing is the only thing that can be heard throughout the dingy little shack that you call home. I glance over to you. The child-like innocence that your face holds is a wonderful mask for the sadistic beauty underneath. Much like my own mask surprisingly, but where mine hides the self doubt and the ever present loneliness, the you choose to wear is to hide a broken girl with daddy problems. My dear, what happened to you?

You sit up slowly and pull your tangled silk out of your face. Sighing contentedly. "Johnny, why are you starting at me?" Your blue orbs smile up at me, but there is something you're holding back. Something you don't want me to see.

Lately that's all I can see in your eyes, a guarded secret that only your soul can know.

You've been distant as well. Almost reluctant really. I remember when I let you observe my work for the first time. The glee in your eyes as you witnessed the patient cowering in fear at my feet. The hunger in them after I was finished for the power and control that was leaking off of my body in waves. The complete ecstasy in them as I took you right there on my desk. But when you assist me now I don't see any of that. I see the boredom and the monotony in your eyes when you hear them scream my name and the reluctance when I touch you. You forget Harleen that I too have a very good skill for psychoanalysis, but for some ungodly reason I can't bring myself to admit that these are the things I see. I can't admit to myself that there is a chance that this is all a game, but the scientist in myself can't go on without knowing.

You infuriate me.

So should I take this opportunity and confront you about this sinking feeling I have? About how as I seem to be getting closer and closer to you, you keep getting further and further away? Or should I take the easiest way out and pretend to remain completely obtuse?

I settle for a noncommittal shrug and return a small smile for knowing that there is a chance for rejection if I were to bring it up.

You sigh and roll your eyes. A wide, but guarded, grin stretches across your features as you lazily pull yourself toward me on the small, springy mattress. "I received a new file for a patient from Joan yesterday."

"Mmmmm?" Is the only response I can manage right now. I feel disgusted with myself for backing down with my tail between my legs. I look down at you as you place your head on my chest, not allowing me to read the reactions on your face or in your eyes.

"Yeah, the call him the Joker." She laughed "this city is getting crazier and crazier every year." She looks up at me and scoots closer to my face. "Are you alright Johnny?"

Looking into her eyes I can see the concern, but not for me, for herself. Yes, Harleen was indeed hiding something from me, but what? "Yes my dear, I am fine."

She glances at my with suspicion before shrugging it off and laying back down on my chest, sighing into a deep sleep. And for a few hours more I hold her, her naked body pressed into mine and her fountain of hair curling around her, pretend that everything is all right, that Harleen is still mine, and that it isn't a chance in the world that she's playing me.

But like I said before, Harleen is a fantastic actress, and I am a fool.


End file.
